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“My husband and I want to say a huge thank you for giving our daughter legal advice, and most especially for going with her to the station yesterday. It has been a really difficult week and she was incredibly anxious about it. We had no idea what the right thing to do was, and it was an enormous relief to have a clear steer from you and to know that you would be there to make sure it went according to plan. She was greatly reassured to have you there, and we are extremely grateful. Once again a massive thank you!”

“I would like to thank you very much for all your patience, help and support during the mediation process. I am glad to report that ….. B and I have a much more settled relationship when we see each other and this has now caused a less tense atmosphere for the children.
I can never thank you enough for making the process as painless as possible and (I) felt so at ease with you. I would definitely recommend you. With hindsight I just wish we had come to you first.”

about Mary Shaw – Mediation

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“Sukhi Patter made me feel very safe and would get the outcome in my favour. Also at no time did she make me feel worthless because I had got in arrears with paying my mortgage and would like to thank her for the outcome. Thanks very much.”

“Many thanks for taking us through sorting out our mother’s will and finances so well. ........ I found it quite moving when tidying mum’s papers to find a letter from her to you expressing how much she appreciated all your help. My sister and I would similarly like to say what a difference it makes to have such a professional and friendly service , especially at a difficult time like this.”

Customer Relationship Managers

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I would like to thank Mary Shaw in particular for her excellent approach, with a balance of professionalism, pragmatism and compassion. I would rate Mary highly as a Mediator & solicitor, and have no hesitation in recommending her services.

”

about Mary Shaw – Mediation

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Our Team

“Thank you so much for all your guidance and support, I have really enjoyed it.”

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Brexit

Last updated: 28 February 2018 – information will be added as announced, bookmark this page and check back for regular updates from our team of Immigration Experts on how this affects you, your family and your business.

The UK’s exit negotiations from the EU continue, proposals have been suggested by both parties and are due to be discussed further in 2018. An agreement has been reached on the rights of EU citizens. Check back regularly for the latest information.

28 February 2018

The Home Office has issued updated guidance on their What EU citizens living in the UK need to know page including information on Indefinite Leave to Remain. There is still no need foe EU Citizens living in the UK to take action.

21 February 2018

You can watch or read the full transcript from the European Scrutiny Committee who met on 21st February, it is a verbatim script and quite lengthy, it covers a multitude of topics including protection of EU Citizens, settled status and Irish nationals.

19 December 2017

Further details of the agreement reached were announced: the agreement ensures the rights EU citizens and their families currently have remains broadly the same with access to healthcare, benefits and pensions protected. In addition, your existing close family members living outside the UK retain the right to join you in future. These rights will be included in UK law ensuring you can continue as you do now. The Home Office are continuing with building a digital system through which you will apply for settled status and the cost will be no more that the fee a British person pays for a passport, if you have valid permanent residence documentation it will be free.

8 December 2017

An agreement was made on citizen’s rights between the UK and EU Commission, EU citizens living lawfully in the UK and UK nationals living lawfully in the EU by 29 March 2019 will be able to stay and enjoy broadly the same rights and benefits as they do now. Read the full content of the agreement and information regarding applying for settled status here

EU citizens living in the UK do not need to take any action at this stage.

29 November 2017

Further information about the registration process for EU nationals has been announced. With the process expected to start in Summer 2018 and take 2 years, the Home Office has recruited additional staff to cope with the registrations. However, there are concerns about whether it is achievable to register up to 3 million EU nationals, find out more.

7 November 2017

The government released a paper setting out a proposed process for EU Citizens to follow to obtain settled status following the UK’s exit from the European Union. The government assures users the system will be ‘streamlined, low-cost and user-friendly, with EU citizens consulted on its design.’ It also suggests EU Citizens will have up to 2 years following the UK’s exit to apply for settled status. Negotiations continue on 9 and 10 November 2017.

19 October 2017

The Prime Minister travels to Brussles today to continue Brexit negotiations, she has sent an open letter to EU citizens in the UK stating her key objective is to ‘safeguard the rights of EU nationals living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU.’

The fourth round of negotiations concluded this week with discussions as per the proposals set out in June 2017. Progress was made with the hope ‘EU citizens can continue to live their lives broadly as they do now.’ An update from the Home Office can be found here.

In the meantime, there is no need for EU citizens to take action, the next round of negotiations will take place w/c 9/10/2017.

13 September 2017

The Home Office have released an article declaring ‘EU citizens living here are vital and we want them to stay‘ in a move to reassure EU citizens during the ongoing negotiations around the UK leaving the EU. While the article is positive and progress is being made, there are still no timescales or processes confirmed. Our advice remains the same – to check back regularly.

6 September 2017

Progress has been made on decisions regarding the future rights of EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals in the EU after the latest round of negotiations:

Healthcare – the rights to reciprocal healthcare have been protected, including European Health Insurance Cards (EHICs), for EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU who are present on the day of exit

Workers – Both sides agreed the rights of cross border workers should be protected

Economic rights – the UK confirmed the right of EU citizens to set up and manage a business in the UK; the same applies to British citizens in their Member State of residence.

These are agreements in principle and will require further discussion with a lot still to be decided. In particular posted workers (raised in the July round) and the mutual recognition of professional qualifications need to be discussed as well as the process that EU nationals living in the UK will need to follow to obtain evidence of their right of residence post March 2019.

16 August 2017

The government has set up an alert service to advise information on the status of EU nationals in the UK, sign up for email updates about developments on:

the status of EU nationals in the UK after we leave the EU

the next steps for EU nationals in the UK

The latest guidance from The Home Office regarding the status of EU nationals in the UK can be found here

26 June 2017

The Government has published its policy paper on the position of EU nationals living in the EU and UK nationals living in the EU.

The paper contains more information about what rights EU nationals and their families will have upon Brexit. Those here with 5 years’ “continuous residence” will be able to apply for settled status under UK law. Those here less than 5 years will be given temporary stay until they get to 5 years and can then apply for settled status.

A separate legal scheme in UK law will be created to consider applications and there is promise of new administrative procedures to make it “as smooth and simple as possible”.

There remain however a lot of unanswered questions and a lack of detail, not least when the cut off date is. The policy paper calls it “a specified date” and says it won’t be before 29 March 2017 but that it is subject to the negotiations.

There is also no date for the start of the new “smooth and simple” procedure. The policy paper refers to mid-2018. Whilst the paper also says that there is no need to apply for settled status before Brexit and that there will be “adequate time” to apply after the exit with no “cliff edge”, this may well not sufficiently reassure the many EU and EEA nationals and their families in the UK now that their rights and ability to continue to live and work in the UK will be protected come March 2019.

23 June 2017

Under the Prime Minister’s proposals over 3 million EU citizens living in the UK would get the right to stay after Brexit, while the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has described UK plans to ensure the rights of EU citizens in Britain after Brexit as “a good start.” Latest Brexit opinion from the BBC

However, the initial reaction of Jean-Claude Juncker, Head of the European Commission is that what the UK are proposing is not enough.

The proposal appears similar to the previous proposal for UK nationals living in the EEA put forward by other EU member states.

Further details will be announced on Monday 26 June 2017.

Earlier in the week the UK government appear to be proposing a ‘stock take’ of EEA nationals in the UK.

Whatever the new process is to be, it will likely require a revision of the current turgid process for applying for EEA Registration and Residence Cards and Permanent Residence and potentially a change to the qualifying criteria for residence contained in the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016.

13 June 2017

Give the continued uncertainty, our advice remains that businesses should take steps to retain their skilled workforce and EEA nationals and their family members living in the UK should seek residence documentation to confirm their right to live and work in the UK.

11 April 2017

Latest Home Office information for EU nationals living in the UK

29 March 2017

The first stage in the formal proceedings for Britain to leave the EU starts today. The Prime Minister, Theresa May, submitted a letter to the EU Commission which triggers Article 50 and signals the start of the negotiation process. The process is likely to take around two years. Read the full letter.

The status of EEA nationals in the UK and UK nationals in the EEA remains the same pending the negotiations. There has been much discussion around when the “cut off” date will be for exercising rights of free movement under the EU Treaty but for now nothing further is known. We will continue to update this page and our advice as any changes are announced.

In the meantime our advice remains that EEA nationals and their family members living in the UK should seek residence documentation to confirm their right to live and work in the UK.

20 March 2017

The Prime Minister will officially notify the EU on 29 March 2017 that the UK is leaving, triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

Downing Street have said that the EU are expected to agree to the terms and send an initial response within 48 hours.

The process of formal negotiations will then commence to agree the arrangements for the UK to withdraw from the EU.

The Treaty on European Union provides that the withdrawal process will end automatically two years after Article 50 is triggered, unless agreement is reached sooner or an extension agreed. According to BBC News, EU leaders have said that they want to conclude the negotiations in 18 months so that the terms of the UK’s withdrawal can be ratified by the UK and European Parliaments, as well as the required majority of EU member states.

Provided that the negotiations are concluded within the two year period, the UK looks on course to leave by spring 2019.

The rights of EU and EEA nationals and their family members in the UK, as well as those of British nationals living in other EEA countries, will form part of the negotiations.

For now their rights remain the same. Under EU law EEA nationals are entitled to reside in the UK providing they are exercising Treaty rights and to have their family members here with them.

Whilst there is no current requirement in EU law for EEA nationals or their family members to obtain Registration Certificates or Residence Cards, it is our advice that they now consider doing so to have evidence of their rights of residence and seek advice if required to ensure that their rights are protected.

UK business providers should also consider checking which of their workers is currently reliant on exercising Treaty rights. Our advice is to encourage employees to obtain proof of their right to remain as soon as possible. In addition, businesses can put systems in place with a view to possible increased immigration checks for workers being introduced once the UK leaves the EU.

13 March 2017

The House of Commons has passed the Brexit Bill, abandoning the Lords amendments.

The latest update suggests Article 50 will be triggered by end of March 2017.

22 February 2017

With the House of Lords debating the Brexit bill this week (22 Feb 2017), it remains keen speculation that the Lords may seek to force through an amendment that the Government guarantee the rights of EEA nationals living in the UK now ahead of the negotiations commencing. This amendment had been proposed in the House of Commons but was rejected.

Our advice is to seek to obtain a Residence Certificate or Card or a document certifying Permanent Residence if possible as evidence of your status in the UK.

In addition, new Immigration Regulations came into force from 1 February 2017 which affect how applications for EEA residents documents will be considered. Read our latest blog post on this New regulations for EEA Nationals (Feb 2017)

15 February 2017

The Government’s long-awaited statement in January did not provide any further clarity and nor have the subsequent Parliamentary debates. Importantly the amendment to the Brexit bill proposed by opposition parties that the government guarantee the rights of EEA nationals to remain was defeated.

The official line is still that this is to be decided as part of the negotiations once Article 50 is triggered along with the status of British nationals in other EEA member states.

Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, has however written a letter to reassure some MP’s about the rights of EU citizens. This was referred to (it appears by accident) during the debate on 8 February 2017 and has since been circulated widely. Letter to Conservative MPs

The letter repeats the official line but offers some welcome assurance that the government want to make securing the status of EU nationals in the UK “a priority” once Article 50 is triggered and that it will then be settled by a separate Immigration bill.

5 October 2016

The Prime Minister announced on 2 October 2016 that Article 50 will be triggered by the end of March 2017 and so the UK looks on course to leave the EU by spring or summer 2019.

There is ongoing uncertainty about whether EU nationals and their families will continue to be able to live and work in the UK after Brexit. The International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, said on 4 October 2016 that the Government “would like to be able to give a reassurance to EU nationals in the UK but that depends on reciprocation by other countries” but “to give that away before we get into a negotiation is to hand over one of our main cards in that negotiation and doesn’t necessarily make sense at this point.” Liam Fox 4 October 2016

It seems that the future rights of EU nationals are likely to remain unclear for some time whilst negotiations take place. Our advice is for EU and EEA nationals and their family members to obtain proof of their current right to remain now, and ideally prior to Article 50 being triggered, especially if they wish to remain in the UK long term.

There are three possible ways to obtain proof of the right to reside in the UK:

If you have worked, studied or been self-sufficient in the UK for less than 5 years you can apply for a Registration Certificate

If you have worked, studied or been self-sufficient in the UK for over 5 years you can apply for a Permanent Residence document

If you already have Permanent Residence you can apply to become a British national

Many EU and EEA nationals working here are in posts crucial to the UK economy. Businesses can seek to future proof staffing issues and minimise disruption by preparing and implementing an immigration strategy for staff who are EU nationals. Our advice is to encourage employees to obtain proof of their right to remain as soon as possible.

As well as confirming the date of the commencement of the Brexit process, the Government made announcements about changes to other UK immigration laws on 4 October 2016. It appears likely that they will undertake wider scale reform of immigration law leading up to and following Brexit which will affect other non-British/EEA nationals either already in the UK or wishing to come here. Seeking advice on the options available now to secure your immigration status is our recommendation.

24 June 2016 – our correspondence to clients following the referendum result:

Following the unexpected result of the EU Referendum vote, many clients, whether individuals and businesses, will be concerned about the impact of the on their immigration options.

The Government have said that there will be no immediate changes. Negotiations will however soon begin to achieve the UK’s exit.

Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon provides the legal basis for a member of the EU to exit. It gives a timescale of 2 years for this process once it formally commences.

It is not yet clear whether this will indeed be how long the process will take.

The impact on UK domestic immigration law and human rights provisions is also not yet known.

As the situation becomes clearer we will be able to advise on the implications for you.

What our clients say

To say that your professionalism and quality of service have been faultless would be telling only half the story. Throughout all that has gone on, your honest advice and genuine care have been an invaluable support, for which I will always be grateful.